Illinois’s higher-ed crisis

The situation for Illinois’s public universities and two-year colleges is worsening. From the Chicago Tribune:

With no money from the state in nearly seven months and its financial reserves almost depleted, Chicago State University says it will be unable to pay its employees come March unless money begins flowing again from Springfield. . . .

While Chicago State is the first school to lay out that dire scenario, other campuses that are heavily dependent on state funding may not be far behind.

The reason for this crisis: Illinois has been without a state budget since July 1, 2015. Several schools have already seen layoffs of faculty and staff (almost certainly permanent layoffs) and hiring freezes.

Bruce Rauner may not be the worst governor in the United States right now — that honor must go to Michigan’s Rick Snyder. But Rauner is certainly in the running. His call for a thirty-one percent cut to higher education is an absurd form of brinksmanship. Not only has Rauner failed to make the trains run on time; he is now piloting the ship of state toward disaster.

Bruce Rauner : Illinois :: Scott Walker : Wisconsin.